KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas Citians continue to show support for 16-year-old Ralph Yarl through words, actions and creativity.
Adriana Adger, owner of the Painted Teacup, and Phyllis Hernandez, owner of Sala de Arte, provided space at the Painted Teacup in Waldo for the community to make get-well cards for Yarl.
Paper and pencils were laid out for a group of about 20, and Adger encouraged the crafters to "make something kind."
“Sometimes we are not comfortable speaking it out loud but it's easier for us to draw a picture and say this is how I am feeling," Hernandez said.
Personally, Hernandez said she felt connected to Yarl's story as a mother of four worried for the safety of her children.
“You know that could very well be my son going to his friend's house," Hernandez said. "A neighborhood he’s not familiar with, you know? I could be in a situation where Ralph’s mother is.”
Adger echoed similar concerns.
“I have a Black family, and I just feel like every day that I wake up there is just something new to write down on my list that we cant do,” she said. “I can’t accidentally go to somebody's house, can’t sleep in your car, can’t sleep in your home.”
But Saturday, Adger and Hernandez were hopeful the event would spread love and support for a community member in need.
“It’s important that we are reaching out to them, letting them know that this matters to us and they matter to us their healing matters to us and their lives matter to us,” said Toph Cooper, a local artist who attended the event. "I want it to be memorable for him, I want it to be something that actually matters, I want him to feel good when he sees it."
